Global software and solutions company DVT has launched a new artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain practice under the leadership of current innovation centre head Roberto Ferro.
The new practice will primarily focus on guiding and enabling business customers to leverage AI’s inherent capabilities and advancements, particularly the latest breakthroughs in Generative AI, such as the services provided by OpenAI. Generative AI is rapidly bringing new capabilities and opportunities to the business world. At the same time, the technology involved requires careful planning and consideration of data, data management, processing, system architecture, data security, user privacy, and responsible use of Generative AI.
“Make no mistake, AI is fundamentally changing how we do business, and we’re only at the very start of the development curve of what it will ultimately be capable of helping us achieve,” says Ferro. “In my opinion, it’s going to be the next major business – and social – disruptor, much like the smartphone was 15 years ago, but on an even larger scale.”
Ferro is building a substantial capability within the practice that will include data engineers, data scientists, machine learning engineers, AI architects and people with knowledge and experience in building complicated but effective AI systems.
“Our CEO, Jaco van der Merwe, says that AI isn’t going to take your job one day, rather someone who understands AI will,” says Ferro. “I firmly believe that people skills, not technology, will be the biggest differentiator, and businesses will need to upskill to keep pace with their competitors. That’s why we’re rapidly building up this competency in service of our customers, enabling them to confidently progress in their use of the technology with our support and guidance.
“Some of our clients are involved in data engineering projects, while others are building or growing their data science capabilities. Most of them are trying to put their machine learning models into production. However, recently we have observed a significant increase in demand for leveraging Generative AI in their businesses. They are curious about how they can use ChatGPT (Large Language Model AI) for their business and the problems it can solve. Additionally, they are interested in exploring the use of Generative Images for their business. The demand is growing,” says Ferro.
“As a trusted partner, we offer solutions and services for data engineering, data science, and machine learning engineers but also AI-powered assistants and systems, using the latest APIs from companies like OpenAI or large language models from companies like HuggingFace,” he says.
“Additionally, we’re already offering Web3 and blockchain services and have numerous technical PoC’s that practically demonstrate capability and opportunity with new technologies. The combination with AI services provides our customers insight and a sound basis for decision making regarding how to use and benefit from the tech.”